Attorney: Interstate Civil Union Dispute Shows Need for Federal Marriage Amendment
by Allie Martin
August 25, 2005
(AgapePress) - Appeals courts in Virginia and Vermont will soon hear arguments in a custody case involving two women, formerly partners in a same-sex civil union, and the child one of the women conceived through artificial insemination. Some observers are saying the case is one that clearly highlights the need for a federal marriage amendment.
Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins were in a lesbian relationship for several years in Virginia and, five years ago, obtained a civil union in Vermont. The couple then returned to Virginia, where Miller gave birth to a child through artificial insemination. Eventually the three moved back to Vermont, living there a short time before the relationship between Jenkins and Miller ended.
But now, a dispute has arisen due to the fact that a Vermont court awarded Jenkins visitation; but a Virginia court has declared Miller to be the sole parent and refuses to recognize the Vermont court's order. As Mat Staver, an attorney and president of the pro-family legal organization Liberty Counsel, explains, "These two cases involving Lisa Miller pit the laws of Vermont against the laws of Virginia."
The root issue in the conflict, Staver points out, is that "Vermont recognizes civil unions, Virginia does not." He feels this case offers a clear example of how same-sex unions will wreak havoc when the laws of one state collide with another, with tragic implications for the entire nation as well as for families and children.
"This case illustrates the classic example of why we need marriage [defined] as one man and one woman throughout all 50 states," the Liberty Counsel president asserts. "We can't have one state experimenting with same-sex unions, because you cannot quarantine same-sex unions within the borders of a state. It simply affects other states, and the consequence is that the children are caught in the midst of this conflict."
Appeals courts in Vermont and Virginia will hear oral arguments in both cases in September. Staver says if the rulings of both courts continue to conflict, the controversy will head to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
